“Yes, but we can’t tell yet.”
“And we shan’t find out by stopping here, Scar; and oh, I say—”
“What’s the matter?”
“The water’s right up in my pockets. Come along back.”
“But we’ve got to go in the dark.”
“Can’t help it. I don’t mind so much now, for we can’t go wrong. Come along.”
Fred took the lead now, and they went steadily back, feeling their way along by the damp wall, and casting back from time to time regretful looks at the bright star of light, which grew less and less, and then disappeared; but as it passed from sight, they saw to their great delight that there was a faint dawn, as it were, on ahead, and this grew brighter and brighter, till they seemed to turn a corner, and saw the bright rays shooting down through the hole, which they reached with a rather confused but correct notion that about here the passage took a double curve, somewhat in the shape of the letter S; but they were too eager to get out into the wood again to give much attention to the configuration of the place.
“Hah!” exclaimed Fred, taking a long breath, and then beginning to squeeze the water out of his nether garment, “that’s better. I say, hadn’t we better hide this hole?”
“I don’t think we need; nobody ever comes here. Let’s go and have a look down by the lake.”